Attendance And Punctuality

Regular attendance and punctuality are essential if pupils are to benefit fully from their education and we aim to be rigorous in helping them to achieve and maintain a good standard of attendance and punctuality. At Argoed High School we know that parental support is vital to help pupils maintain full attendance.

Punctuality records are one of the first things we are asked for in reference requests. It is therefore important that all pupils recognise this as an essential work skill. If pupils are late they will serve a break time detention with a senior learning mentor to discuss why they were late and strategies to improve their punctuality. Immediate feedback of this sort has been proven to work effectively.

All pupils should aim for 100% attendance in order to achieve their potential within school. Consistent attendance is proven to be beneficial for all pupils.

All absence requests should be made in writing and forms can be collected from reception.

In cases of unavoidable absence, we ask that parents/carers keep us informed as to the reason for a child’s absence, particularly if it is likely to be prolonged or carried over from one week to the next.

The procedure for advising absence is as follows:

Where a pupil is unable to attend school due to illness or other sudden reason, parents/carers should telephone the school, between 8.00am and 8.45am on the first day of absence, giving an indication of the anticipated length of absence. If the absence extends beyond this time a second call should be made. The parents/carers of pupils who are absent and for whom we have not received an explanation will be contacted to confirm the reason for the absence. We run an automated text messaging service to inform parents/carers of absence.

We ask for parental support in ensuring that family holidays are not taken during term time. The link between educational attainment and school attendance has been researched and it has been proven that the lower the attendance, the lower the educational attainment. Also, we want to instil in our young people the message that full attendance at school is extremely important for their future success.